Nicholas Firfires, The Dogger

Nicholas Firfires (1917-1990) Nicholas S. Firfires was born on the Waunakee Ranch near Santa Barbara, California November 10th, 1917. Firfires was a descendant of the Californios and vaqueros learned all the skills of working cowboys by living on the big ranches north of Santa Barbara, in San Luis Obispo County. Skills such as, breaking horses, herding cattle, and working cow ponies before he graduated from Santa Maria High School. He worked with horses until he was 24. As a child, he showed great interest and skill in drawing animals, especially horses, and after graduating from high school, he attended the Art Center School and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. He had his first one-man show in 1960, and was so successful that he turned exclusively to fine art painting, depicting both historic and contemporary Western scenes. A particular focus was the Spanish influence on California culture in a style that is Realist and Impressionist.